MC-MM-MI CARTRIDGES . DO YOU KNOW WHICH HAS BETTER QUALITY PERFORMANCE? REALLY?
Dear friends:The main subject of this thread is start a dialogue to find out the way we almost all think or be sure about the thread question : " true " answer.
Many years ago I started the long Agon MM thread where several audiophiles/Agoners and from other audio net forums participated to confirm or to discover the MM/MI/IM/MF/HOMC world and many of us, me including, was and still are" surprised for what we found out in that " new " cartridge world that as today is dominated by the LOMC cartridges.
Through that long thread I posted several times the superiority of the MM/types of cartridges over the LOMC ones even that I owned top LOMC cartridge samples to compare with and I remember very clearly that I posted that the MM and the like cartridges had lower distortion levels and better frequency range quality performance than the LOMC cartridges.
In those times j.carr ( Lyra designer ) was very active in Agon and in that thread I remember that he was truly emphatic posting that my MM conclusion was not true due that things on distortion cartridge levels in reality is the other way around: LOMC has lower distortion levels.
Well, he is not only a LOMC cartridge designer but an expert audiophile/MUSIC lover with a long long and diverse first hand experiences listening cartridges in top TT, top tonearms and top phono stages and listening not only LOMC cartridges but almost any kind of cartridges in his and other top room/systems.
I never touched again that subject in that thread and years or months latter the MM thread I started again to listening LOMC cartridges where my room/system overall was up-graded/dated to way superior quality performance levels than in the past and I posted somewhere that j.carr was just rigth: LOMC design were and are superior to the other MM type cartridges been vintage or today models.
I'm a MUSIC lover and I'm not " married " with any kind of audio items or audio technologies I'm married just with MUSIC and what can gives me the maximum enjoyment of that ( every kind ) MUSIC, even I'm not married with any of my opinions/ideas/specific way of thinking. Yes, I try hard to stay " always " UNBIASED other than MUSIC.
So, till today I followed listening to almost every kind of cartridges ( including field coil design. ) with almost every kind of tonearms and TTs and in the last 2 years my room/system quality performance levels were and is improved by several " stages " that permits me better MUSIC audio items judgements and different enjoyment levels in my system and other audio systems. Yes, I still usemy test audio items full comparison proccess using almost the same LP tracks every time and as always my true sound reference is Live MUSIC not other sound system reproduction.
I know that the main thread subject is way complicated and complex to achieve an unanimous conclusions due that exist a lot of inherent differences/advantages/unadvantages in cartridges even coming from the same manufacturer.
We all know that when we talk of a cartridge we are in reality talking of its cantilever buil material, stylus shape, tonearm used/TT, compliance, phono stage and the like and my " desire " is that we could concentrate in the cartridges as an " isolated " audio item and that any of our opinions when be posible stay in the premise: " everything the same ".
My take here is to learn from all of you and that all of us try to learn in between each to other and not who is the winner but at the " end " every one of us will be a winner.
So, your posts are all truly appreciated and is a thread where any one can participates even if today is not any more his analog alternative or is a newcomer or heavily experienced gentleman. Be my guest and thank's in advance.
Regards and ENJOY THE MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.
@lewm : " What happened was I lost nearly all consciousness of or obsession with purely the sound quality. I was immersed in the experience as if it was happening in front of me. "
Spoton. Well in a little different way that's whatshould be happens only with the sound:IMMERSED in the experience ".
I don't need my eyes closed to achieve that but this is me.
R. |
Yeah @rauliruegas, James Boyk's Performance Recordings label LP's are mighty fine. I have 5 of them myself.
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@bdp24 : I remember that way, I have years that I don't listen to those label recordings and this is time to do it. The Label producers were very carefully in all the recording choices as microphones and its positions,recorder machine and kind of tape,all tube electronics, Shefield Labs team,pressingand the like. Stereophile reviewed 1-2 of PR recordings.
R. |
@rauliruegas Of course all multi driver speakers do not perform the same, but they are multi driver speakers nonetheless and separate the audio band which is noticeable as you walk up the speaker. One of the cool things about full range ESLs is this does not happen. You can never tell that you are close to the speaker. When visuals match what you are hearing, eyes open is no problem such as concert videos and small live venues. At large concerts, stadium concerts, the reverse happens. The audio is Mono. There is no audio match to the stage positions. Because Vision is our dominant sense this does not bother us as much as no visual to the audio. Listening to Herbie Hancock's Sextant with eyes closed or in a darkened room is an other worldly experience. Because I can't listen to every cartridge out there I am not interested in the quality of performance of my system? So, the Atlas SL, MC Diamond and Hyperion MR are second rate cartridges? I spent a year building 4 extremely high performance subwoofers and I do not care about the performance of my system? Right. |
The extension of references to SS Phon's with fundamental design being Current Driven and Transimpidence, has encouraged myself to investigate a few Phon's demo'd in recent years that made a very good impression. The Phon' demo'd aside numerous Phon's and the one I am a advocate of is now learned to be Transconductance as the fundamental design. I now know by looking at a few models used at Bake Off's that there has been a Tranimpedance SS design present. That has not been able to produce a indelible impression. The Phasemation EA350 has been another SS Phon' experienced as a Brand New model not too far back, that has been indelible for all the right reasons to my perceptions. This a different fundamental design to the above that are referred to. The SS Design I listen to the most, and has now generated 50 Sales is my friends own design. For myself this is able to really impress, it has much of the presence of the Transconductance Desigbln and EA 350. I intend on owning my friends design further down the line, but to feel the Transconductance Model will be best demo'd along side it in the home system. The Sculpture A SUT will be an excellent device to have ready to experience in the home system for this same period of demo's
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